Flying an Airplane for an Hour Exposes Pilots to as Much Radiation as a Tanning Bed

Email addresses will not be shared with 3rd parties. See privacy policy

Thank you.

Your message has been sent.

OK

We're sorry, an error occurred.We are unable to collect your feedback at this time. However, your feedback is important to us. Please try again later.

Close

Airplane windshields allow UV radiation to enter the cockpit, giving pilots a dose similar to dangerous levels found in tanning beds.

The daily commute for airline pilots
could be the equivalent of riding to work in a tanning bed, suggests a new
study. Airplane windshields can block some ultraviolet (UV) radiation found in
sunlight, but a significant amount passes directly into the cockpit. This puts
the crew at risk of developing melanoma, which is the most serious form of skin
cancer.

In the study, published
in JAMA Dermatology, researchers from the University of
California, San Francisco, compared the level of UV radiation in the cockpit of
a general aviation turboprop airplane with the dose produced by a standard
tanning bed.

Almost an Hour of
Flying Equals 20 Minutes of Tanning

The researchers took measurements in a
plane at several elevations in San Jose, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada. While
the plane’s windshield blocked most of the UV-B radiation, it allowed UV-A
radiation, which is the same type produced by the tanning bed tested, to pass
through.

“Pilots flying for 56.6 minutes at
30,000 feet receive the same amount of UV-A [cancer-causing] effective
radiation as that from a 20-minute tanning bed session,” the authors write in
the paper.

Most commercial aircraft fly at this
altitude, where the level of UV radiation is double that found at ground level.
UV radiation reaching the cockpit can also increase when the plane flies over
thick cloud cover or snow fields, which can reflect up to 85 percent of the UV
radiation.

The greater UV-A radiation exposure in
the cockpit results from the design of the airplane’s windshield. Tests have
shown that plastic and glass windshields can block most of the UV-B radiation.
However, up to 54 percent of UV-A radiation is able to get through the
windshields, with plastic blocking more of this type.

Strong Link Between
UV Rays and Melanoma

The link between UV-A radiation and
melanoma is well established. According
to the American Academy of Dermatology, one
in 50 Americans will develop melanoma in their lifetime. Excessive exposure to UV
radiation is a preventable cause of melanoma. People who live closer to the
equator, where the sun is more intense, and those who use tanning beds are at
an increased risk.

In previous research, published in JAMA
Dermatology, an analysis of 19 studies showed that pilots are twice as likely
as the general population to develop melanoma and 42 percent more likely to die
from it.

Additional research has found that this
increased risk exists even when taking into account the pilots’ other sun
exposure, including their history of sunburns, use of tanning beds, and numbers
of sunny vacations.

The new study, however, is the first
one to directly test the level of UV radiation that pilots are exposed to in
the cockpit. Because only one plane was tested, though, the researchers suggest
future studies be conducted on more types of aircraft. This could establish
safety guidelines that would limit UV exposure for pilots.

“We believe that better UV protection
on aircraft windshields is necessary to offer cabin crew a hazard-free work
environment,” the authors write. “We strongly recommend the use of sunscreens
and periodical skin checks for pilots and cabin crew.”